This is what happens when the 500mm is mounted, and the Grackle is just a little too close... leg amputation... Taken at F/5.6, 1/3200 sec, ISO 640, EV -0.67. Used the 40D and Sigma 500/4.5. Straight conversion from RAW using ACR defaults, nothing else:



I cropped a bit off the right side, nothing more - it's still over 3500 pixels on the long side. There was a bit of OOF grass or something across it's tail too. It's very good at 100%. However, I felt it important to show this photo - the subtle purples and rufous tail almost shimmers on these birds when the light hits it a certain way.



Two female Northern Bobwhites (aka Quail) in a symmetrical pose as they cross a branch while foraging. What I really like about the shot is how it clearly shows their plumage is very well suited for camouflage in this environment. Taken at F/6.3, 1/2000 sec. ISO 1000, EV -0.67 using 40D and Sigma 500/4.5.:



A nice pose, but I cropped this a bit because of the damn cow poop... there was poop all around them... dammit...

For last, some male Gobblers (aka Wild Turkey) - a nice set of feathers and butts... Taken with the K20D + FA* 300/2.8, F/5.0, 1/500 sec., ISO 800:



Nice pair...

Cheers,
Marc

[Heinrich Lohmann]

Three nice photos Mark, legs or no legs the first one is a grackle allright the second one makes my mouth water. (we had a good friend who was an acomplished bird hunter) The third one, eh what can I say...LOL

Take care,

[daacon]

Excellent as usual Marc - love the turkey butt shot

[Jimbo]

Another great series Marc. I do notice you shoot in high ISO's a lot of the time. [800+] The K20 is holding up well. Also noticed at times your ISO range is something like 640 / 0r 1125 etc.. Are you shooting those in TVA or is that what the Canon 40D? Anyway... always a pleasure to look at your work. JIMBO

[Marc Langille]

Three nice photos Mark, legs or no legs the first one is a grackle allright the second one makes my mouth water. (we had a good friend who was an acomplished bird hunter) The third one, eh what can I say...LOL

Take care,

Thanks Heinrich - yes, each photo is unique...

Cheers,
Marc

[Marc Langille]

Excellent as usual Marc - love the turkey butt shot

Thanks Dave and glad to see you stopped by - yes, that turkey shot is kinda priceless... I like the head peep of one of the ladies to the extreme right and center of the shot...

[Marc Langille]

Another great series Marc. I do notice you shoot in high ISO's a lot of the time. [800+] The K20 is holding up well. Also noticed at times your ISO range is something like 640 / 0r 1125 etc.. Are you shooting those in TVA or is that what the Canon 40D? Anyway... always a pleasure to look at your work. JIMBO

Thanks Jimbo! It's primarily due to the subjects often being photographed in heavily shaded areas. That slightly "off" ISO value from the norm is due to the EV adjustment values in the menus being customized to 1/3, instead of 1/2 stops.

This gives you a broader range of ISO's to shoot with when not in modes that use ISO sensitivity as the primary criterion, such as Hyper Program or TV modes. Then I can quickly find the best shutter/aperture combination for the shot (based on the subject, lighting, etc.) with the lowest possible ISO value to ensure a reasonably good chance of a sharp image. Either camera does very well up to ISO 1000, and the Canon falls off (only for this kind of shooting - shady/dark, overcast conditions) beyond that value. It's OK at ISO 1250, but the Pentax K20D is much better for the type of shooting I often did.

Believe me when I say I took some heat from the Canonites when I said this. They quoted lab tests, etc. and it was really sad... what about the real world wildlife photography, which is incredibly difficult and time consuming. I thought that shooting over 10,000 images with that 40D should give me some idea of it's strengths and weaknesses....

Link to Pentax Forums here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/29903-canon-40d-vs...rspective.html

BTW, that's exceeded anything I've ever posted by a long margain in terms of view count on any other post I've done - over 3100 views.

Here's the DPR post:
Canon 40D vs. Pentax K20D - from a wildlife photography perspective: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Look for the subject line with "give me a break"... it's eye opening! Don't get me wrong, the 40D an excellent camera, but not in all circumstances. I chose to let them be known... They all have faults, strengths, and weaknesses.

Regards,
Marc

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Last edited by Marc Langille; 08-23-2008 at 07:52 PM. Reason: typo

[Jimbo]

Marc... thank you for taking the time to explain as I am in the learning curve and everything helps. The better I understand yours' or anyone who has shot as much as you, the approach you take to shooting, helps me through the process. You have always been extremely helpfull in this and for that I again thank you. I am totally hook on this whole process and want to learn. Always enjoyed your photo's and that's why I ask how you handle different shootings. Take care and again, thank you for taking the time to explain... JIMBO

[timbo13]

Marc, great images as always! Those wild turkeys have quite a range, I've seen some cross my neighbor's lawn here in Massachusetts. I am learning a lot from your technical explanations, too, so thanks for those as well.

[slowpez]

Thanks for sharing the pictures and your expertise. Am trying to learn to capture wildlife and every little bit helps.
Love the turkey butts but that grackle is stunning.

[m8o]

hahahaha... those mistakes likely rare to you are a too common an occurrence to me... I have Shiba Inus... they're a breed that have up-turned tails. I do try hard to avoid photos of them turned away...

[LaRee]

Heh heh. I'm a professional at bee, butterfly, bird, animal butts. It seems that I'm more often than not, too slow on the draw and end up with the tail end. Too bad my tail shots are not as pretty as your turkey rears, or I'd be in great shape. lol That really is a cool shot Marc.

Very nice shots again Marc. I take it the grackle is complaining about the amputation by the way it's mouth is open.

I can't see any quail.

The turkeys asses are classic. I'd love to see some playing cards PP'd onto those tail feathers.

Gary

[Marc Langille]

Marc, great images as always! Those wild turkeys have quite a range, I've seen some cross my neighbor's lawn here in Massachusetts. I am learning a lot from your technical explanations, too, so thanks for those as well.

Marc... thank you for taking the time to explain as I am in the learning curve and everything helps. The better I understand yours' or anyone who has shot as much as you, the approach you take to shooting, helps me through the process. You have always been extremely helpfull in this and for that I again thank you. I am totally hook on this whole process and want to learn. Always enjoyed your photo's and that's why I ask how you handle different shootings. Take care and again, thank you for taking the time to explain... JIMBO

Thank you both! No worries and my pleasure. I'd rather help people out - by letting people know what I did wrong or what difficulties I encountered, they can avoid those pitfalls. Wait a minute, did I just say that? "What I did wrong?" I actually said this (intentionally) during my radio interview on NPR - nothing like telling the masses you can be wrong... Everybody, no matter how good, only comes back with a percentage of keepers.

The better or best photographers find ways to mitigate or minimize those potential roadblocks in a shoot: sometimes they can exponentially increase their "keeper" percentage; more often a marked improvement in the success rate, since the image might be technically excellent, but not quite what they wanted to capture, etc. I changed a couple of things in my photographing of hummingbirds, and came away with nearly a 50% success rate one day. I was willing to be patient and fire the shutter only when I was certain of a good shot, instead of shooting continuously. I wanted to make my ability to anticipate the bird's movement as the final say, not the FPS rate of the camera. Whether or not the bird remained in focus during the shutter actuation is another story, since they are incredibly fast...

I've always wanted to show people that by applying yourself, results CAN follow... I only started shooting with seriousness and conviction only back in mid 2006, and there were multiple month layoffs. Prior to the wildlife photo competition, I had taken almost no photos since October 2007, and the competition started in April of 2008. I was a little concerned about being "rusty"... I wish to share and promote photography as a medium for conservation, insight, and general thought. That is by no means a complete list! It's not to showboat my stuff - it's to show people the beauty of the world around us, nothing more.

Cheers,
Marc

[hamidlmt]

I would be more than pleased had I taken your "misses." Thanks for sharing more of your great work!

btw... love that third shot!